High-Scoring Third Solidifies Royals’ Comeback

READING, PA – The Reading Royals entered the game 1-1-0 against the Cincinnati Cyclones and were looking to continue the momentum from their win against Cincinnati the night before.

The physical play from both teams was in full force from the get-go. The Royals controlled most of the play until Martin Ouellette made a very rare mistake playing the puck outside of the trapezoid 4:41 into the period. Cincinnati’s Eric Knodel wasted no time, scoring 22 seconds into the power play and giving his team a 1-0 lead. A scrum at the end of the first saw Gabryel Boudreau and Olivier Labelle both called for matching roughing penalties.

The Cyclones started the second period strong, with Andrew Yogan scoring just 24 seconds into the period and doubling their lead to 2. Reading got their first power play of the game when Tommy Mele got caught holding a stick 9:18 into the second. The Royals were able to get one good scoring chance early into the man-advantage but Joel Rumpel and the Cyclones penalty kill held them at bay for the rest. The Royals continued struggling to get any offense rolling during the second. Peter Leblanc took a hooking penalty late in the period to give Reading a chance to gain some momentum back. The Royals got their offensive bump as Kevin Sundher scored off of an offensive rush with just 2.7 seconds left in the period, cutting the Cyclones’ lead to one.

The Royals needed to come out and capitalize on the momentum swing from the end of the second period. Nick Luukko answered that call netting his fifth goal of the season 3:28 into the period and tying the game at two. Reading seemed to forget all of their offensive woes the period before as Tyler Goulbourne scored the go-ahead goal just 57 seconds later. The Royals weren’t finished just yet as Justin Crandall scored 1:25 later to make it a 4-2 game.

The Cyclones were not going to go down quietly, putting immense pressure on Martin Ouelette in the middle stages of the third period. That effort looked to be in vain, however, as Michael Pelech scored the Royals’ 5th goal of the night to give them a resounding 5-2 lead. Ouellette stood tall throughout the period saving all 10 of Cincinnati’s shots and solidifying the Royals 5-2 win.

The Royals are back in action at home this Wednesday, November 30th at 7:00 PM EST as they face off against the Wheeling Nailers.